Lonely Thorn
by Lunar Sunsets
Summary: So many years had passed since that afternoon – the woman still remembered the whole afternoon. She remembered leading Elphaba to the tree, she remembered their first kiss, and she remembered putting the flower in Elphaba's hair…


_**Wicked belongs to Gregory Maguire, not me. I still don't understand why people put disclaimers on this site...**_

* * *

Galinda noticed Elphaba sitting underneath a tree, a book in her hands and her knees pulled up as close to her chest as she could get them. She looked like she was trying to turn herself into a ball, trying to make herself as small as she could. The blond didn't hesitate to approach Elphaba and grab her hand.

"Elphie, follow me," she said before forcibly dragging Elphaba away from the tree. She didn't slow down as she retraced the path Fiyero had led her a few days before.

"Um, Galinda?" Elphaba said quickly. Galinda glanced over her shoulder and noticed that Elphaba was struggling to keep up. "Where are you dragging me…? Galinda. Galinda, please slow down! I can't keep up! Will you let me go so I can get my book back? Please? Galinda, please slow down!"

Galinda ignored Elphaba's protesting and continued to go the same speed, even speeding up a bit. Her grip on the green girl's hand tightened, not wanting to let her get away. Elphaba could go an afternoon without her book.

The blond stopped suddenly, nearly falling onto her face, to avoid stepping on any flowers. She was out of breath, she had to admit to herself, but attempted to hide that fact from the panting Elphaba. She placed her free hand on her hip, smiling to herself.

"Here we are!" Galinda announced once Elphaba had caught her breath. The green girl focused on the flowers, giving Galinda a chance to admire the way Elphaba looked that afternoon.

Her raven hair was pulled back into a neat braid and she had returned to wearing the same type of clothes she'd shown up to Shiz in, completely disregarding Galinda's makeover. The blond looked back at the flowers, not wanting to make Elphaba uncomfortable.

The flowers varied in color. There were pinks and whites and blues – Galinda loved the mix of so many colors. She hoped Elphaba liked it too. She smiled, proud of her idea.

"Elphie," she said in an attempt to get Elphaba's attention. "Let's go sit down under that tree." She pointed at a tree – a tree that looked like one of Elphaba's favorite types of trees – and immediately began dragging her friend through the flowers. She stepped carefully to avoid crushing any flowers.

Elphaba could barely keep up and Galinda had to suppress her laughter.

"Oh Oz, Elphie," she said, a soft giggle escaping as she spoke. Without another word – she didn't want to start laughing like a maniac – she sat down in the shade, pulling Elphaba down with her. The first thing the blond noticed was that Elphaba was breathing heavily again.

Galinda pulled her knees up to her chest and smiled, focusing on the flowers again. A gentle breeze blew, making the leaves rustle slightly. The scene was calming.

She didn't want to look at Elphaba. She felt Elphaba's eyes on her and became self-conscious. She _really _didn't want to screw the afternoon up. Elphaba laughed softly and Galinda didn't make a big deal out of it, pretty sure that Elphaba hadn't meant to be heard.

After what felt like an eternity to Galinda, she stretched out her legs and resisted the urge to stretch and yawn. She scooted closer to Elphaba and sneakily intertwined her fingers with Elphaba's. Still not looking at her friend, Galinda rested her head against Elphaba's shoulder.

The sun was beginning to set, she noticed. The sky had changed to a very faint orange color mixed with the blue. It kept Galinda calm, that was for sure.

"Elphie, isn't the view beautiful?" Galinda asked suddenly. There was a silence following her question and she half-expected Elphaba to ignore her like Fiyero did. In an attempt to avoid a never-ending silence, Galinda spoke again, "I love flowers."

"So do I," replied Elphaba.

Another silence followed. Elphaba wasn't much for talking, Galinda noted silently. She continued to stare at the flowers.

Suddenly, Galinda got an idea.

"Are you going to kiss me?" she asked. Elphaba nearly choked and Galinda looked up at her at make sure nothing was wrong. She moved her head off of Elphaba's shoulder to get a better look at the green girl and noticed that her face was darker than normal.

"Wh-what?" Elphaba finally managed to spit out. Galinda giggled.

"You heard me Elphie," she said. After a moment, she decided to repeat her question. "Are you going to kiss me?"

"Why would I _ever_ kiss you?" Elphaba asked, her sarcastic nature returning. Galinda began pouting. "I thought we…_loathed_ each other."

"Elphie!" Galinda cried. She scooted away, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting even more. Elphaba looked disappointed, but her frown was quickly replaced with another empty face. "I thought it was obvious."

"What?"

"I brought you to a field of flowers, sat with you under a tree, held your hand – isn't it obvious?" Galinda frowned.

"Why didn't _you _kiss _me_?" Elphaba asked. "I'm not very…_dominating_…"

"I didn't – this isn't – stop trying to blame me!" the blond shouted. She stood up and tried to keep from crying by staring at the ground. She felt Elphaba get closer and hoped that the green girl would hug her.

"Look at the sunset," Elphaba whispered. Galinda looked up and noticed that Elphaba was staring at the sky – it had turned a pretty golden orange. "Perfect time…beautiful sight, isn't it?"

She had to admit; the sky was beautiful, and it calmed her down a bit. She _did _always love the sunsets.

Galinda was shocked when Elphaba kissed her. She was even more shocked when Elphaba immediately pulled away and began blushing. A million things ran through the blonde's head but she couldn't voice any of them.

"Elphie?" she managed to get out. Elphaba's face darkened even more and she looked uncomfortable.

"We should get back to our - !"

"One moment!" Galinda shouted, cutting off Elphaba by walking away. She knew that Elphaba wouldn't see what she was doing – Elphaba was too busy staring at the ground like an embarrassed little kid.

A minute or two later, Galinda walked back up to Elphaba. In her hand she held two flowers, both a pretty pink color.

"Pink?" Elphaba questioned. Galinda nodded, smiling at her friend, and handed one of the flowers to Elphaba. She stood on her tiptoes and took a moment to carefully stick the flower in Elphaba's raven hair. "Galinda…why are you putting _another _flower in my hair?"

Galinda took the other flower back and, while she put that flower in her own hair, said, "Elphaba, pink goes good with green and you look positively _beautiful _with flowers in your hair."

"Thanks," Elphaba muttered, a little unsure how to respond to that comment. "We should get back to our room before night time, unless we want to get in trouble _again_."

She held out her hand and Galinda noticed that she seemed a little hesitant when she did this. The green hand remained in the air awkwardly until Elphaba spoke.

"I don't know the way back," she admitted. Galinda giggled when Elphaba said this. She linked arms with her roommate before she could protest.

"What if I don't want to go back right now?" the blond asked teasingly. Elphaba shrugged. "What if I wanted to stay here with you _all. Night?_"

"All night?" Elphaba's voice lowered to a whisper and she blushed again, making Galinda laugh.

"Yes," she answered, "all night. The flowers are prettier early in the morning. The sun makes them sparkle – early in the morning."

"Maybe we could come back in the morning. I'd prefer to sleep in my bed tonight, Galinda," Elphaba replied.

"And not my bed?"

"What?"

"Oh Oz, Elphie," Galinda giggled again. "You need to listen better! Come on, let's start heading back."

Galinda purposefully walked slowly, never wanting the afternoon to end. Sadly, it quickly became night and both girls had to rush back to their room to avoid getting in trouble.

* * *

The sun was rising slowly, the horizon turning a golden orange color. A woman slowly walked up to a tree that was surrounded by flowers of different colors. She sat down, facing the horizon and waiting for the sun to come up and make the flowers sparkle.

So many years had passed since that afternoon – the woman still remembered the whole afternoon. She remembered leading Elphaba to the tree, she remembered their first kiss, and she remembered putting the flower in Elphaba's hair…

"Elphie…I wish you could see the flowers…" she whispered to herself. The flowers had begun to sparkle, the sunlight reflecting off the dew. "They're so beautiful. I never lied…when I said that they were beautiful."

Galinda – who was now known as Glinda – wiped away a few tears. She could feel Elphaba sitting next to her. She could hear pages turning. She could hear Elphaba's laugh still – she still remembered everything about her only true friend.

"I promised you we'd come back. We both said we'd come back the next morning. Well…I did come back…" Glinda murmured. She slowly rose to her feet. "Just a few years too late…"

She walked towards the flowers, eyes locked on two pink flowers. She reached down to pick them but hesitated. She felt someone behind her. She felt someone watching her, standing behind her.

Glinda spun around and saw nobody. Her heart broke into pieces and she started crying silently. Turning back around to pick the flowers, Glinda tried to focus on something other than Elphaba. When she picked the flowers, she put one in her hair, her blue eyes filling with new tears.

"Pink goes good with green," she whispered, turning back to the tree. "You look beautiful with flowers in your hair, Elphie."

She gently placed the other flower on the ground in front of the tree. She stepped back to admire her little memorial. She saw herself and Elphaba sitting against the tree, so many years ago, sitting so close.

Glinda turned back around, not able to handle the sight of the tree anymore. A gentle breeze blew her curled hair around, rustling the leaves of the tree.

"I never lied," she whispered, "when I told you I loved you."

A few minutes of silence passed. Glinda closed her eyes and listened, hoping to hear Elphaba calling her name. It was silent.

Eventually, she realized she needed to leave. She began walking away, casting one last glance over her shoulder, back at the tree.

"Bye, Elphie," she said.


End file.
